Personal Training Day Ten:

Today was a good workout. And by good, I mean, that I felt the burn, but that I wasn't going to fall over from feeling said burn. We worked on the upper body, but with a combination of free weights and weight machines, so that was a nice change of pace. Not to mention that I was totally rocking out to my new workout playlist, which made the workout that much more bearable.

For me, music is integral for working out. Music, in addition in this case to my friends and the little jokes we crack in between catching our breath, makes the workouts survivable, even when they're really hard. I think an iPod or some other kind of music device is positively mandatory for working out. I've forgotten my iPod all of one time in my three or four months of working out now, and the one time I did, I plugged my headphones (because somehow, I remembered those) into the TV on the elliptical to pass the time, which didn't work out so hot.

Given how important music is to me when I work out, I thought I would share with you my Top Ten Workout Songs (which also double as my top ten for any kind of physical activity, like cleaning or vacuuming, too). And I'd love to hear about some of your favorites, too! You'll probably notice that a lot of these are older, retro songs, but that's just how I roll, I guess. Totally not on purpose.

1. Survivor "Eye of the Tiger" - Such a total classic, from the "Rocky" movies, it really gets my blood pumping, even at the end of a workout when I want to just fall over.


2. Britney Spears "Womanizer" or "Toxic" (a tie) - I'm a smidge embarrassed to say that I own some of Britney Spears's music, but she makes great music to work out to. Both of these songs make you just want to move, and that's the whole point.


3. Janet Jackson "Pleasure Principle" - This one actually is on the list because of the accompanying music video, which is for some reason burned into my brain. When I hear this, I just picture Janet running all over the place, and pounding on mirrors and such, and it just makes me energized.


4. Rob Base and DJ EZ-Rock "It Takes Two" - This might just be the best song of all time. It always puts a huge grin on my face, no matter when I hear it, and smiling and feeling happy will always make your workout go by faster!


5. Salt-n-Pepa "Push It" - I love this song. I totally rock out (in my head) to this whenever I hear it. It's totally motivational, like they know I'm working out, and they're telling me to work just a little harder. I know, it sounds stupid, but it really is an awesome workout song.


6. Jamiroquai "Canned Heat" - This one also has an image associated with it. This song was featured in the movie "Center Stage," which was kind of like a poor-man's-ballet-version of "Fame" not too many years ago. Love the movie. They used this song for the last part of the last performance, of a super-modern ballet, and I loved the dance they performed to this.


7. Say Anything "Alive with the Glory of Love" - This song just has an awesome beat, you can't help getting up to move when you hear it.


8. Michael Jackson "Beat It" - To be fair, this has been on my workout list for a long time, not just because the man passed away recently. I always loved Michael Jackson's videos, the dance breaks especially. "Beat It" was probably my favorite, with the whole gang-motif and everything.


9. The Dan Band "Milkshake" - This is a remake of Kelis's "Milkshake"...but by a guy. If you've seen "The Hangover," the Dan Band is the wedding band that cracked you up. Enough said. (And if you haven't seen "The Hangover," go see it tonight. You will thank me.)


(NOTE: This isn't "Milkshake," I couldn't find that on You Tube, but this is equally hilarious!)

10. Foo Fighters "Everlong" - This gets me pumped up for some reason. Maybe it's the guitar riffs. Maybe it's because it's just one step removed from Nirvana. I don't know, but it works!